Mystery at Los Alamos as secret data goes missing

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The National Laboratory at Los Alamos in New Mexico, a key US centre for nuclear weapons research, has halted all classified work after it reported vital data missing last week.

Such precautions at Los Alamos, the birthplace of the first atomic bomb during World War II, had not occurred in recent memory, laboratory officials said, highlighting the seriousness of the breach.

The laboratory said it learnt of two missing data storage disks last Wednesday week during an inventory check. The laboratory director called a news conference, but declined to detail the nature of the data, citing national security concerns.

The suspension of secret work will allow for staff retraining and other measures aimed at boosting crucial security measures at Los Alamos. "Until such time as we are confident we are addressing this issue, then all activities with respect to classified materials have been put on hold," said Professor Gerald Parsky, chairman of the board of regents of the University of California, which manages Los Alamos.

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But a laboratory spokesman, Chris Harrington, said US national and nuclear security would not be affected by the halt of secret work as key staff would remain on the premises in the New Mexico desert during the security review in case they were needed.

The case of the missing disks is the latest in a series of embarrassing episodes at US nuclear weapons laboratories in recent years that have raised concerns about lax security.

"These breaches of national security will not be tolerated," Professor Parsky said. "We plan to monitor and to hold people accountable for breaches."

Officials said they had no indication that the sensitive data had been removed from the well-secured Los Alamos facility.

Four years ago a scientist at Los Alamos, Wen Ho Lee, was accused of stealing secrets from the centre. He later pleaded guilty to one count of downloading nuclear weapons design secrets to a non-secure computer after the US Government's case against him collapsed.

Robert Dynes, president of the University of California and a physicist, said any findings about the incident would probably be kept secret. "If you were to suddenly tell everyone in the world that this information might be out there you would start a treasure hunt, and that's not what we are interested in doing here," he said. "We have to protect the security of the nation."

Robert Foley, a retired admiral who serves as a Los Alamos vice-president, said sloppy security among scientists might have been to blame.

"There was a comfort level, I believe, there in the past," he said. "Now we have clear indication of some people who broke the rules."

The laboratory's director, Gerald Nanos, on Wednesday held meetings with some of Los Alamos's 12,000 employees - most of whom have US Government security clearances.